No. 1 South Carolina stands strong, holds off No. 13 LSU. What we learned
South Carolina women’s basketball used another second-half surge to defeat Kim Mulkey’s LSU Tigers 66-60 Thursday at the Maravich Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Dawn Staley’s No. 1 Gamecocks (14-1, 2-1 SEC) faced another tough challenge from the No. 13 Tigers (14-2, 2-1 SEC), which entered the night on a 13-game win streak with two victories over ranked SEC opponents.
USC was missing two of its key reserve players, Kamilla Cardoso and Laeticia Amihere, as well as junior Olivia Thompson on Thursday.
The Gamecocks trailed by 11 midway through the second quarter but used a dominant third quarter to earn their first SEC road win of the 2021-22 season.
Here’s what we learned about the Gamecocks.
Gamecocks use strong second half in first SEC road win
Zia Cooke nailed a jumper with under a minute to go to seal South Carolina’s first road win in conference play.
Cooke returned from a minor slump late in non-conference play to make an impact for South Carolina in its last two games. She finished Thursday with 17 points on 7 of 15 shooting.
Aliyah Boston, on a campaign for national player of the year, tallied her eighth consecutive double-double and led the Gamecocks with 19 points and 18 rebounds. Destanni Henderson also finished in double figures, scoring 16 points.
Boston nearly out-rebounded the entire LSU team, which finished the game with 24 boards compared to South Carolina’s 48. The Gamecocks tallied 19 rebounds on the offensive end.
The Gamecocks outscored LSU 19-10 in the third quarter behind solid contributions from Brea Beal (six points, four rebounds), Boston (five points, eight rebounds), Henderson (four points) and Cooke (four points).
USC locked in defensively, keeping LSU to 35.3% from the field in the second half after allowing the Tigers to make 50% of their shots in the first half.
LSU was led by veteran point guard Khayla Pointer (22 points), Alexis Morris (14 points) and Faustine Aifuwa (12 points).
South Carolina gets off to slow start at LSU
LSU took a 34-28 lead over South Carolina into halftime, shooting 50% (16 of 32) from the field compared with South Carolina’s 45.8% (11 of 24) through the first 20 minutes.
The Tigers started the game with seven consecutive baskets before missing their first shot with just 2:58 to go in the first quarter. South Carolina heated up late in the half, trailing by 11 with 5:03 left in the second quarter and bringing the score within six points before halftime.
LSU’s Pointer scored 13 points in the first half alone, and Morris added eight points in the first 20 minutes. The Tigers saw success in the paint throughout the first half, scoring 18 points in that area.
Boston fell into early foul trouble, tallying her second personal with 7:16 to go in the second quarter. With reserve post players Cardoso and Amihere unavailable, Staley opted for freshman Sania Feagin in the first half. Feagin totaled four rebounds and an assist through six minutes.
Gamecock turnovers remain a problem early
Ball security has been a consistent issue for the Gamecocks, and that problem continued to rear its head in Baton Rouge.
South Carolina turned the ball over 13 times in the first half, and LSU capitalized for 13 points off turnovers in the first 20 minutes.
The Gamecocks averaged 15.1 turnovers per game heading into Thursday night’s contest and committed 18 in their last game against Mississippi State.
South Carolina cleaned up its turnovers in the second half, totaling eight in the game’s final 20 minutes.
Next South Carolina basketball game
Who: South Carolina vs. Kentucky
When: 1 p.m. Sunday
Where: Colonial Life Arena in Columbia
Watch: ESPN
This story was originally published January 6, 2022 at 10:02 PM.
